CSAA Signals
Vol. 9, No. 14 —November 7, 2003
440 Maple Avenue East, Suite 201, Vienna, VA 22180
703-242-4670; Fax 703-242-4675
 

What a Week!

CSAA policy is that we will only send a Signals or other e-mailed communications when there is information of importance to the central station industry. Some weeks there will be more than others, but we are sensitive to the flood of e-mails that everyone gets every day.
 
Table of Contents

CSAA Elects New Board


Past CSAA President Mel Mahler (right) passing the presidential gavel to new CSAA President Dick Sampson (left).

CSAA Members elected a new Executive Committee on October 20, 2003 during CSAA's Annual Meeting in Lana'i, Hawaii.

Former First Vice President Richard L. Sampson, President, American Alarm and Communications, Inc., Arlington, Mass., was elected President of CSAA for a two-year term.

Other new Executive Committee Members include:

  • First Vice President: John A. Murphy, President, Vector Security, Mt. Laurel, N.J.
  • Second Vice President: Bud Wulforst, President, A-1 Security, Las Vegas, Nev.
  • Treasurer: Peter Lowitt, President, Lowitt Alarms and Security, New York, N.Y.
  • Secretary: Robert R. Bean, President/CEO, Alert Holdings Group, Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii
  • Immediate Past President: Mel Mahler, President, ADS Security, Inc., Nashville, Tenn.

New Board Members appointed were Pam Petrow (Senior Vice President, Vector Security), Mike Shaw (CEO, Interface Security Systems, LLC) and Stanley Oppenheim (President, DGA Security Systems, Inc.).

“The members of this association and our entire industry have been mightily blessed by Mel Mahler’s professional and inspired leadership on our Board of Directors and, during these last two years, as President.” commented newly elected President, Dick Sampson.

He continued, “Mel and Past President Ralph Sevinor both had a keen interest in the theme of inclusion over exclusivity. This was expressed in a number of constructive changes. For example, membership requirements were changed to explicitly welcome proprietary and third party monitoring centers. The North American Monitoring Technology Symposium and Exposition (NAMTSE) was created to educate and inspire all who are in our industry or in activities related to it. The CSAA dues schedule was modified to be more friendly and fair to even the smallest of companies. Classes are held regularly to mentor and help companies consider applying for their first UL listing.”

“I’m happy to serve as president for the next two years and enthusiastic about bringing the ongoing theme of inclusion over exclusivity into everything we do together as an Association” added Sampson.

Sevinor Receives Stanley Lott Award


Ralph W. Sevinor

One of the most active and hardworking CSAA members in the last few years has been without doubt Ralph W. Sevinor. After stepping out as CSAA President in 2001, he continued to dedicate many hours to the new Central Station Operator Training, Level One project, to assisting former CSAA President Mel Mahler in many other projects, as well as always contributing in his many Committee memberships.

Ralph's dedication to CSAA, its members and the industry was recognized on Wednesday, October 22, 2003 at the President's Dinner Dance when he was granted the Stanley C. Lott Award, CSAA's highest honor.

"I believe that Ralph worked harder for CSAA these past two years than he did when was President--and he worked VERY hard when he was President!" said former CSAA President, Mel Mahler.

"He really made my job a pleasure these last two years. We both look forward to supporting Dick Sampson as he takes CSAA to a new level," added Mahler.

The Award, which is not given every year, recognizes those individuals whose contribution to CSAA and the industry are exceptional. Past recipients of the Award include Robert Bitton (1991), Patricia and Thomas F. Smith (1993), Robert A. Bonifas (1995), Steve Roth (1996), Robert L. Ohm (1997), Tom Lewin (1998), Isaac Papier (1999), Stanley Martin (2001), and William (Bill) Moody (2002).

Stanley C. Lott served as President of CSAA in 1985-1987, and died on March 5, 1989 at the age of 46.

Protecting God's House

(l.-r.): Ron LaFontaine, Reverend Raymund Ellorin, and Mark Hillenburg

CSAA members are well-known for their generosity. This virtue was evident during the 2004 Annual Meeting.

A group of meeting participants and their spouses attended the local Catholic Church in Lana'i, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church, Lana’i City, Hawaii. At the end of the service, the Reverend Raymund Ellorin asked for donations “especially from the visitors” toward the rewiring of the parish buildings. He needed an additional $2,047 toward the goal of $4,500. “You would not like your pastor to roast,” he exclaimed. Apparently they recently had a fire caused by faulty wiring.

Later that Sunday, at the nudging of his wife, Katherine, Ron LaFontaine, a CSAA past President, asked Mark Hillenburg and Gary Kallman, both of DMP (formerly Digital Monitoring Products), to donate the equipment needed to install a fire alarm system in the parish buildings. Further, Robert Bean of Alert Alarm of Hawaii, the largest alarm dealer on the Hawaiian Islands, agreed to install the system at no charge. Art Black, principal of Carmel Fire Protection, who was familiar with the alarm procedures in Maui County, agreed to help with its certification.

The next day, at the meeting's General Session, Ron “passed the hat.” Thanks to the generosity of our CSAA members and guests, an additional $1,246 was donated to Father Raymund. Needless to say, Father was truly speechless when a group of CSAA members and staff visited him to donate the money and offer the free monitored fire system!

CSAA 2003 Annual Meeting Voted Best Ever


2003 CSAA General Meeting

CSAA's 2003 Annual Meeting was rated "best ever" by participants in a post-meeting survey. One of the best attended Annual Meetings in recent years, the meeting offered excellent educational sessions and networking opportunities.

In spite of a tempting beach and lovely weather outside, attendees kept the room packed as they listed to industry leaders.

For example, a panel composed of Clifford Dice, President, Dice Corporation; Charles A. Durant, President, GE Interlogix; John Judd, Director, Systems Sales, Bosch Security Systems; Steven Keefer, President, GE Monitoring Automation Systems; Peter Ribinski, President & CEO, Bosch Security Systems and Jim Stevens, Vice President, Mobile Monitoring Products, C3 Location Systems, Inc.; and Jerry Winslow, President, Bold Technologies Group described where their respective companies are headed.

Another panel discussed “NFPA Standards and Codes-The Premise Security Project - What You Really Need To Know.” Not being aware of some of the information could literally cost you money down the road. The presentation was given by Art Black, Principal, Carmel Fire Protection Association; Lou Fiore, President, L.T. Fiore, Inc. and CSAA Standards committee chairperson; John Lombardi, President, Commercial Instruments and Alarm Systems, Inc.; Shane Clary, PhD, Vice President, Codes and Standards Compliance, Bay Alarm Company and chair of the NFPA 731 Task Group.

Loring Knoblauch, President, Underwriters Laboratories (UL), also gave an excellent presentation on future UL programs of benefit to our industry.

Once again, CSAA was honored to host the leadership of some of the major AHJ and industry-related organizations: Greg Ballentine, President Elect, Association of Public Communications Officials (APCO); Chief William B. “Bill” Burger, President, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); Sheriff Wayne Gay, President, National Sheriffs Association (NSA); Aaron D. Kennard, First Vice President, National Sheriffs Association (NSA); Vincent R. Stile, President Elect, Association of Public Communications Officials (APCO); as well as Bill Elliott, the President of the Door and Hardware Institute; Cecil Hogan, National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA); and Loring Knoblauch, President, Underwriters Laboratories (UL).

Stan Oppenheim, President, DGA Security Systems, opened the meeting with "Lessons Learned from the 2003 Blackout" and also closed it in a joint presentation with Isaac Papier, General Manager of the Signaling and Security Systems Strategic Business Unit and Chairman of the Security Systems Council, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. on their view of where the insurance industry is headed.

One of the most lively panels was the "Crossfire with the AHJs," chaired by John Murphy, President, Vector Security, where meeting attendees had an opportunity to dialogue with the AHJs present. Another entertaining presentation was given by John Bunnell, former Sheriff of Portland, Oregon and star of the popular TV Show, “World’s Craziest Cop Chases” on “The Worlds’ Craziest Burglaries.”

With the continuing issue of alarm non-response, a panel composed of Bob Bonifas, President, Alarm Detection Systems, John A. Murphy, President, Vector Security; Bill Moody, SIAC/CARE; and Jerry Howe, President, Peak Alarm discussed proven strategies to decrease the number of false dispatches.

Another informative presentation was an analysis of current attrition statistics given by John Brady, President, TRG Associates. These statistics are collected by TRG Associates as part of the “CSAA Attrition/Database Project.”

All work and no play would a made for an unusual CSAA Annual Meeting, so there were plenty of activities: a Tennis Tournament, sponsored by System Sensor; a Golf Tournament, sponsored by the Honeywell Security Group; as well as a Welcome reception, a Luau, and the President's Dinner Dance.

As if all these great activities were not enough, the meeting also had the largest participation of sponsors in recent Annual Meetings: ADI (Opening Reception Hors d'oeuvres, Wine & Beverages); AES Intellinet (Partial sponsor of Monday’s Coffee Break); Alert Alarm of Hawaii (Board of Directors Dinner); Altronix (President's Dinner Dance Reception); Bosch Security Systems (Hawaiian Luau Entertainment); Digital Security Controls Ltd. (Partial sponsor of the Dinner at the President's Dinner Dance); DMP (Board of Directors and AHJs Dinner); DICE Corporation (Wednesday Continental Breakfast); GE Interlogix (Hawaiian Luau Dinner); Honeywell Fire Systems Group (Partial: Monday-Wednesday Coffee Breaks); Honeywell Security Group (Golf Tournament); Lorom Industrial Co. Ltd. (Monday Continental Breakfast); Monitoring Automation Systems (Tuesday Continental Breakfast); NAPCO Security Group (Flowers for the President's Dinner Dance); OzVision (Partial sponsor of Tuesday’s Continental Breakfast); System Sensor (Tennis Tournament); and TRG Associates (Hawaiian Luau Wine & Beverages).

"The CSAA Education Committee, under the leadership of Bud Wulforst and Pam Petrow, has done an outstanding job of reformatting the educational component of NAMTSE, Annual Meeting and other central station-related seminars," said Steve Doyle, Executive Vice President of CSAA. "What they have done is to bring these programs to a level that is practical and usable by our members and others--Salespeople, operators, administrators all have something that they can take back and use right away. We never had such well-focused programs in our history," added Doyle.

Overheads of most of these presentations are available at the Members Only section of CSAA's site, www.csaaul.org. Tapes of the presentations are also available to both members and non-members for a nominal fee.

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